1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to an automated machine which may be used for performing various tasks involving the recognition of a predetermined object in its environment, and an intervention on that object after it is detected. This machine is, for example, preferably applied to picking fruit such as apples, pears, peaches, oranges and other citrus fruits, etc. In its application, the automated machine makes it possible to pick fruits individually by their stems and to lay them down without bruising in a container such as a large box.
2. Description Of Background Materials And Relevant Information
In agriculture, automated fruit picking has already been attempted so as to remove the contraints of manual picking or the drawbacks of mechanized picking systems, such as shaking, known up to now. Techniques used in prototypes of automated picking machines already achieved are basically of two types:
the first consists in placing a camera at the end of a movable arm fitted with a grasping system;
the second consists in placing a camera next to or near a movable arm fitted with a grasping tool, this camera being used with a sighting telescope so as to facilitate the detection of objects and responsive movements of the arm.
In the first example, the camera is quite exposed to adverse movements, such as bumps, which causes a significant obstacle in having the camera placed so close to the grasping system.
In the second example, as in the first, the grasping tool does not advance directly in the direction of the fruit by moving on the axis of the optic beam of the camera, and this causes a sighting error which prohibits the moveable arm from reaching the fruit in a good position for picking.
These shortcomings explain why the prototypes of automated machines conceived according to these techniques remain largely in the planning stage.